Our reporter, Ben Banks, was at the first press conference from Michael Wimmer as Motherwell manager.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome to Motherwell, what was it about this job that attracted you to the role?
00:05I'll ask my hi to all, all together, what attracted me was really good interviews,
00:14as Brian called me, and Kirk called me, and we had really nice interviews,
00:20and I had the feeling that they were really interested in me and they wanted me to come to the club,
00:27I've watched many games, a few games, the team is very very interesting,
00:33I think it could fit to my, or I'm convinced that it fits to my playing style,
00:39so yeah, as I say, come on we do this, I say yes.
00:43So what do you consider a success then at Motherwell, what do you look to achieve?
00:49I think it's important now to get my playing style, my ideas into the club,
00:56and also to find the balance, because it's the end before the tables will split,
01:01so it's also very important that we are successful, that we get points,
01:06and so, yeah, I want to achieve, I want to reach the top six, yes.
01:10Do you look just purely at the short term just now,
01:13or do you have to try and put building blocks in place for the long term?
01:16Yes, yes. This is now the balance, it is how to bring my ideas immediately into the team,
01:26or how to adapt it slowly, and see what the players, the skills and the abilities for the
01:36players, do it slowly, but bring it into the club, bring it into the principles,
01:42into the players, and it's important.
01:44You mentioned the principles and your style of play,
01:47what would a Motherwell team look like under you then?
01:50I want that we play proactive football, a proactive football, we'll try to play
01:57with our principles, yeah, try to be dominant also, and have high ball wins,
02:04and my building blocks are from control, dynamic, got to be goal-oriented,
02:09and this I want to say, and bring energy into the clubs, have many duels,
02:12and, yeah, energy and atmosphere to the fans, I think it's a traditional club,
02:18traditional club needs intensity.
02:22You mentioned in your club media interview that there's no settling-in period,
02:27you want to hit the ground running, will fans expect to see big changes this weekend?
02:33Big changes?
02:36I think it's too short to talk about this, because this was only one training session now for me,
02:42because yesterday the session was not, because no work permit, so it was...
02:50I want to take a picture from each player,
02:53I want each player to have the same chance to play,
02:56and they can show you in the training session,
02:59and then we decide as a coaching staff which players are perhaps the best for Saturday.
03:09The last manager, Stuart Kettlewell, quit his role due to fan abuse,
03:13he said that that took its toll on him, took its toll on his family,
03:16is that something that you considered at all when you were offered this job?
03:21No, because I'm not in a position to talk about this, it's the past, and it's not my topic,
03:28and no, I'm looking forward, and I like to have good connections to the fans,
03:35and I think if I work 24-7 for the club and give everything for the club,
03:42then yeah, I think it could work.
03:44Is that one of the priorities, is trying to strike that relationship up between
03:48the supporters and the club that maybe has been broken over the past few months?
03:53I can't say this because I don't know what was before I came to the club,
03:58but I can say that I think it's very important that the relationship between
04:03the team, the club and the fans has been tight, and with togetherness many things are possible,
04:11and if the groups are split it's always dangerous, and yeah, dangerous to get good results.
04:18What do you know about Scottish football more broadly, what do you expect from the league?
04:24I know things about UK football, to be honest,
04:28because many coaches from the championships are very good,
04:35so I follow UK football, but I also follow Scottish football, and I like it, I like the
04:42intensity, I like the honesty from the football, and I like the passion, I like also the fans,
04:54they are passionate, this is crazy, I like this.
04:59And also on Sunday I played a game against the Rangers, I was also surprised by the energy
05:07and the power in this game, and yeah, I'm looking forward to the first game.
05:13You've earned praise in the past for work that you've done with youth players,
05:16that's something that's big, by the way, what would you say about that,
05:20what do you make of the youth here, is that something you get excited about,
05:23the promising players that they've got?
05:24Yes, it was one topic, to develop players, and I like it, to develop players,
05:32I worked in Nürnberg in the FDB with many players, also the time in Stuttgart,
05:37we have many young players, and develop young players like Enzo Milo,
05:42and I think this could be one aim of the club, to develop players, and two,
05:48helps to sell them, and to get money.
05:52The club is obviously fan-owned, how comfortable are you working
05:55within a club that is fan-owned, and what do you make of that model?
06:00No, nothing, fan-ownership.
06:03Oh, I don't really know about this, yesterday I had a short meeting with him,
06:09and I enjoyed the meeting, so next time, if I know the team a little bit better,
06:16then I want to get to know them a little better, and to chat with these people.
06:24Of the players you've got at your disposal just now, are you confident that you can
06:27implement the style of football that you want to do just now,
06:31without the need for bringing in new players?
06:34Yes, I'm convinced that I can implement this, because I saw the players yesterday,
06:41only in a meeting, and today in a meeting in the training session, and the players
06:47are very, I think they're very hungry to get the information, and in the session then,
06:54they did it very well, so I'm convinced that it's possible, but it's not a sprint,
07:02it's a marathon, it took also time to implement all the things.
07:08Just out of interest, is there anyone that you spoke to before taking the job,
07:12is there anyone that you'd pick the phone up and ask about Motherwell,
07:14is there anyone that had experience here that you know in the game?
07:20No, not Scottish football, but I talked to two other guys,
07:26he has to talk about the organisation, how it is, the players, also the character from the players,
07:34but also from the league, the character is very important for me,
07:38when I come here and I'm surprised in the first game, what will happen here,
07:44so it was very important to talk to other coaches, but I don't know a Scottish coach.
07:53You mentioned the passion that comes with Scottish football,
07:56is that something that you've dealt with before,
07:57that level of intensity and expectation at any of your other previous jobs?
08:01I like it, because in my opinion the fans and also the club have this passion and I like it.
08:16If you see, for example, on Sunday, if you saw the fans and in my opinion they live for football,
08:28and this is, I don't know, in Germany you would say this is perfect, but I like this,
08:37and this is honest football and I think we should give the fans with our performance on the pitch
08:45this passion back, to confirm this passion, do you know what I mean?
08:52To confirm this passion with giving everything, giving everything on the pitch,
08:58to let the heart on the pitch, to go into each duel, to play with intensity.
09:04The result, I don't know, in football everything can happen,
09:08but you can always bring the best performance,
09:11you can always bring the best effort in the 90 minutes.
09:15What's your target for the remainder of this season?
09:19For the end of the season?
09:20Between now and the end of the season.
09:23I think if you see the table from, I think, place four to, or place three,
09:31to place 11, there are only 11 points, and so the tables are very tight and so everything is possible,
09:40but to talk about the aim, I think it's too early, perhaps I can talk later after splitting.
09:50The next aim is to implement my game, my idea, slowly, but bring it into the club,
09:58bring it into the team, and to achieve the place six is the aim to get in the play-off.
10:06If results early on, or maybe not coming as you would want,
10:10would you sacrifice your style in the short term, or are you looking to implement that immediately?
10:18Because I think not the coaches, not me as manager, it's the important man,
10:23it's the important other players, and I'm not here to say we have to do this and this and this,
10:30this has to work, and if the players feel not confident now to do this,
10:36then we have to adapt this, make it slowly, but also that they get the idea,
10:45to know the idea of what I want to see from them, and to play aggressive, to play pressing,
10:53you can also adapt this to make a lower block instead of a press high,
10:59so this I think you should be, or I should adapt this.